4/18/14

Social Studies Role Play (Australia v. England)

Description: We will be furthering our exploration of Australia and England in this cumulative activity. We will have students perform role play of significant events that happened in history between Australia and England with props and costumes. This activity will show students the relationship between both countries; in addition to, incorporating the information students have learned throughout the past five weeks into one activity. Context: Grade 4, five students, open area for movement. Standards: SS.GHW.7.2 2007 Analyze the physical and human factors involved in conflicts and violence related to nationalist, racial, ethnic, religious, economic and/or resource issues in various parts of the world, over time. Assess the human and physical environmental consequences of the conflicts identified for study. Materials: Dress-up clothes Venn Diagram Scrap paper Markers Pencils Script Procedure: 1. Students will be handed a scrap piece of paper and a writing utensil. With this paper they are going to write down a prediction about what they think happened in history between Australia and England. 2. Students will share their predictions in a whole group discussion. 3. The Butler teachers will introduce the war of 1788-1802 that changed the future of Australia forever. 4. We will discuss why countries go to war in the first place. We will ask students why England wants to invade Australia in hopes that they can come to the conclusion of power, greed, land, resources, etc. 5. We will quickly read through the script and jot down visual notes so that students are aware of what happens in the story. Visual notes are more pictures than words. 6. Next, we will introduce the role play activity. Ms. Ruffolo will be the narrator of an article based on major events in the 1700s between the Aboriginals and the British. Students will volunteer to portray crucial characters in from history, such as Pemulwuy, Captain Cook, Governor Phillip Gidley King, and the aboriginal tribes. 7. Students will dress up and use props according to the descriptions they are given about their character.

8. Students will act out the scene that the narrator speaks. This strategy will help students retain the information in an interactive, exciting way rather than learning it from text. The story includes major battles, critical historical figures, and the results of the fighting at the end of the 19th century. 9. We will debrief on what we have discovered over the past six sessions. Engage-- Students will be whisked back to a time where countries fought for land and power. They will immediately be engaged with our role play activity because they get to take on real peoples identities and dress up. Explore-- Students will explore through a performance of how England conquered Australia in the 1700s. Explain-- Students will explain what they notice about the events that happened years ago. They will make predictions about who they think will ultimately win, lose, die, fight, etc. Elaborate-- Students will elaborate about more similarities and differences they notice from the two countries after seeing, second-hand, the journey and past between England and Australia Evaluate-- We will assess their learning by documentation and conversation. By talking to the students and seeing their conversations, we will be able to verify their understanding by reviewing the Venn Diagram. Accommodations: We will need to be flexible if one of the students doesnt arrive to enrichment that day. Furthermore, if a student has any disability we will need to move to a location that is comfortable for everyone and differentiates our instruction. Reflection: This lesson was the last enrichment session of six at Central Elementary school. Throughout these sessions, students have been exploring the similarities and differences between Australia and England. This study has come to a summative lesson where we introduce how the two countries have become related. The students had such an amazing time with performing role play and learning about the connection between England and Australia. I think they enjoyed seeing how the two countries related to each other through battle and war. We had great conversations at the beginning of the lessons about why countries go to war and what draws other countries to teaming up as allies. Sydney was the first to connect the two countries together and it was awesome to hear the students predictions about who won the Australian/Britain war. The students loved being able to dress-up and portraying other characters from long ago. There was one girl in our group that had stage fright and didnt like to act or talk in front of large groups. To help her and her fear of attention, we decided to place her in the chorus with the aboriginal tribal folk. I made an adjustment to my lesson, however. When we implemented this activity into our lesson, I thought it would be a fun idea to do improvisation-like acting. Students would get a description of their character and play the part in a way that fits how that character wouldve acted in those times. This would allow for them to make inferences based on what they know to decide what might happen in the future. Nevertheless, the students were utterly confused when I would twist the plot and they often looked helpless. Regardless, the students enjoyed being able to move around and incorporate the arts into our lessons.

Our form of assessment for this activity would be visual notes and listening to their reactions and quotes about the lesson. Visual notes would have been an excellent way to see a quick stage of events. I think students retain more information when they find the joy in learning, instead of being told the events in history. This is something that I would definitely do differently next time.